Scottish Executive

Careers Scotland

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total budget of Careers Scotland has been per head of population in each year since its establishment.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual running costs of the Careers Scotland website have been in each year since its establishment.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the population has used Careers Scotland for guidance and advice, broken down by age.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Enterprise Networks to support economic development, including the delivery of a national all-age guidance service through Careers Scotland. Issues in relation both to the use of this service and the costs of providing it are operational matters for the enterprise networks.

Careers Scotland

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Careers Scotland has a specific requirement to target young people not in education, employment or training.

Mr Jim Wallace: Young people not in education, employment or training are a priority group for Careers Scotland. We are, together with Careers Scotland, currently reviewing its targets.

Careers Scotland

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the budget of Careers Scotland is calculated.

Mr Jim Wallace: On its establishment in April 2002, Careers Scotland brought together some 80 guidance-related organisations. Its original budget was based on the total of the support provided by the Executive to these conjoining organisations, supplemented by specific funding for all-age guidance, inclusiveness and enterprise in education-related activity.

  Careers Scotland is now an integral part of the enterprise networks. Its costs therefore form part of the network's overall operating costs. The Executive's grant funding of the networks includes the original budget allocated up to April 2002. Allocation of the level of resources necessary for Careers Scotland is therefore an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Children and Young People

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will invite further bids for grant funding for advocacy services for children with additional support needs and their families; what the criteria will be for considering such bids; what the arrangements for funding will be, and what level of funding will be granted.

Peter Peacock: We will make available £250,000 in 2005-06 for advocacy services for parents of children with additional support needs, and for young people with such needs. We will set out criteria and arrangements for funding and invite expressions of interest from organisations able to offer services commencing in the 2005-06 financial year. This funding is in addition to the £198,117 allocated to advocacy services through the Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund.

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5990. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Children and Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people (a) in total, (b) under the age of 11, (c) aged from 11 to 13 and (d) aged 14 and 15 have been charged in each local authority area with assault on a teacher, in each of the last five years.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally. The Executive currently publishes data within the statistical release on incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour against local authority staff (Table 1: Incidents against local authority staff by sector) on the number of incidents across pre-school, primary, secondary and special school sectors which are reported to the police (301, or 4% of incidents in 2002-03). The information for the last five years is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 30816).

Children and Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people charged with assault on a teacher in each of the last five years had special educational needs.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally. The Executive currently publishes data within the statistical release on incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour against local authority staff (Table 1: Incidents against local authority staff by sector) on the number of incidents across pre-school, primary, secondary and special school sectors which are reported to the police (301, or 4% of incidents in 2002-03). The information for the last five years is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 30816).

Children and Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people (a) in total, (b) under the age of 11, (c) aged from 11 to 13 and (d) aged 14 and 15 have been referred to each Reporter to the Children's Panel following an alleged assault on a teacher, in each of the last five years.

Euan Robson: This is a matter for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. The information requested is not held centrally.

  www.childrens-reporter.org.

Children and Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the young people referred to each Reporter to the Children's Panel following an alleged assault on a teacher in each of the last five years had special educational needs.

Euan Robson: This is a matter for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. The information requested is not held centrally.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why there has been an increase in the use of casual staff to cover administrative tasks in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Colin Boyd QC: As part of the Department's ongoing modernisation programme, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has recently begun the implementation phase of its Future Office System (FOS).

  FOS is an electronic workflow and document management system which will streamline much of the administrative and clerical work undertaken, including that arising from initial decision making.

  It was envisaged that staff savings would be realised following implementation and that these savings would occur primarily at the basic administrative grade.

  In order to minimise any possible redundancy situation, it was agreed, with trade union support, to fill vacancies at that level which occurred in the last 9 months on a temporary fixed term basis in the expectation that a significant number of these posts would no longer be needed in 2004-05 and in order to avoid the need for redundancies of permanent staff. The use of temporary or casual staff has indeed allowed the department to avoid making staff redundant.

Culture

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what works of art and historical artefacts are currently on loan from institutions directly funded by it to departments of Her Majesty's Government, detailing the department and item in each case.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is a matter for each of the National Institutions. The information requested is not held centrally.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental graduates remained in Scotland to work in (a) a practice, (b) the community and (c) a hospital following completion of their vocational training and general professional training in each of the last three years, expressed as a percentage of all who completed their training in each case.

Mr Tom McCabe: Tables 1 and 2 provide the information requested.

  Table 1: Percentage of Dentists Completing Vocational Training On 31 July and In Post in NHSScotland at 30 September of Same Year

  

 

2001

2002

2003



Headcount of dentists who completed vocational training on 31 July

91

61

59



Percentage of dentists completing vocational training on 31 July and in post in NHS Scotland within:-



General Dental Practice at 30 September

58.2%

55.7%

78.0%



General Dental Practice and Hospital Dental Service at 30 September

4.4%

1.6%

-



Community Dental Service at 30 September

6.6%

6.6%

-



Hospital Dental Service at 30 September

11.0%

9.8%

5.1%



  Table 2: Percentage of Dentists Completing General Professional Training on 31 July and in post in NHSScotland at 30 September of Same Year

  

 

2001(1) (2)

2002 (1)

2003



Headcount of dentists who completed General Professional training on 31 July

0

10

3



Percentage of dentists completing vocational training on 31 July and in post in NHS Scotland within:-



General Dental Practice at 30 September

-

60.0%

21.2%



General Dental Practice and Community Dental Service at 30th September

-

20.0%

6.1%



Community Dental Service at 30 September

-

-

6.1%



Hospital Dental Service at 30 September

-

10.0%

36.4%



  Sources for Tables 1 and 2:

  MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System), ISD Scotland.

  NHS Education Scotland.

  Hospital and Community Health Service dentists: Medical and Dental Census, ISD Scotland

  Notes:

  1. Information on dentists who completed their General Professional training on 31 July 2001 and 2002 is only available for South East Region.

  2. No dentist completed the General Professional Training in 2001 in the South East Region as there was no intake in 1999.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6249 by Mr Tom McCabe on 12 March 2004, how many general dental practitioners will reach the age of (a) 55 and (b) 60 in each of the next three years, expressed also as a percentage of all practitioners.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table.

  Number and Percentage of Principal NHS General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) Currently Working in the General Dental Service Who Will Reach the Age Of (A) 55 And (B) 60 During the Year to 12 March

  


Year

Number who will reach the age of 55

Percentage of all principal GDPs1

Number who will reach the age of 60

Percentage of all principal GDPs1



2005

42

2.1

23

1.2



2006

38

1.9

36

1.8



2007

35

1.8

34

1.7



  Note:

  1. Based on the number of active principal GDPs at 12 March 2004.

Dentistry

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in attracting new dentists to work in the NHS Grampian area.

Mr Tom McCabe: Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust is actively pursuing the recruitment of dentists for the salaried general dental service. In addition, I announced on 20 November 2003 increases in existing recruitment and retention initiatives and the introduction of a number of further measures.

Education

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been excluded from school in the last three years, broken down by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) local authority area.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is given in the Statistics Publication Notice Exclusions from Schools, 2002- 03 published by the Scottish Executive on February 17 2004. Figures for exclusions by stage are given in Tables 3a to 3c, exclusions by gender in Table 4 and exclusions and removals from the register by local authority area in Tables 16, 17 and 18. A copy of this statistical release is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 31223).

Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in relation to Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6831 on 23 March 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the Scotland the Brand initiative and whether it intends to promote any alternative logos.

Mr Andy Kerr: Scotland the Brand is a private sector company. It receives no grant support from the Scottish Executive. The First Minister will announce details of a campaign to promote Scotland later this year. No decision has been taken about an alternative logo.

Environment

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency measures.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive made a commitment in the partnership agreement to improving energy efficiency in the public sector. The Executive has just announced £20 million in new funding to set up energy efficiency funds on a sustainable basis across all local authorities, health boards, and Scottish Water. Under this initiative savings achieved from energy efficiency will be reinvested to deliver further energy efficiency measures. Over five years we estimate these funds could deliver a reduction in energy consumption of up to 20% across these bodies – equating to a £70 million saving in public sector energy bills and a reduction in carbon emissions of 500,000 tonnes over five years.

  Jim Wallace announced the Scottish Climate Change Programme, which includes energy efficiency measures and is also contributing to greenhouse gas emission reductions in the UK in line with our commitment to make an equitable contribution to the UK Kyoto target.

Environment

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to implement and monitor a strategy in respect of pest control.

Allan Wilson: Currently there are no such plans. Cases are dealt with on their individual merits.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any recent consultation has taken place concerning Scotland's equine industry and, if so, what issues were addressed.

Mr Frank McAveety: Officials in the Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department have on-going communication with representatives of the Scottish Equestrian Association (SEA).

  I have agreed to meet representatives of the SEA in the near future to hear their views on issues relating to the equine industry in Scotland and the role of the public sector.

Equine Industry

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to consult on (a) equine passports, (b) riding school licences, (c) health and safety in the equine industry, (d) riding school approval schemes and (e) fallen equine stock.

Allan Wilson: A public consultation on equine passports was held last summer. Consultation on a review of animal welfare, including the licensing of riding establishments and livery yards, is imminent. There are no plans to consult on riding school approvals and health and safety at work is a reserved matter. The views of stakeholders on the possible inclusion of equines in the proposed National Fallen Stock Scheme have already been sought and are being considered by the board of the national fallen stock company.

Further Education

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and which, further education institutions offer specific training and support places for young people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperkenetic disorder and, in relation to these, (a) where each institution is located, (b) how many such places are available, (c) what the duration of such training is and (d) how much funding, and over what time period, has been allocated to each institution for this purpose.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Health and Community Care was aware that compensation to those in the Republic of Ireland who developed hepatitis C through contaminated blood products was a no-fault compensation scheme when giving evidence to the Health Committee ( Official Report , 9 September 2003; col 155-156) and, if so, why the committee was not advised of this at the time.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Health and Community Care was aware that no-fault compensation awards to infected haemophiliacs in the Republic of Ireland were made on compassionate grounds without legal liability on the part of the state and, if so, why he did not advise the Health Committee ( Official Report , Health Committee, 9 September 2003; col 155-156) of this when questioned.

Malcolm Chisholm: My reply of 20 March to your letter of 12 March on this issue sets down the important facts concerning the situation in the Republic of Ireland as I understand them.

  I have placed copies of my letter in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 31878).

Health

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what operational and funding arrangements are in place for the research and development of policy on, and care for, people suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Mr Tom McCabe: The care of people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is arranged and funded by NHS boards. The Executive issued the report of a short life working group set up to make recommendations for improving services to NHS boards in February 2003, and is currently seeking progress reports on action taken since. Copies of the reports will be made available to the Health Committee.

  The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. CSO is largely a response mode funder of research and this role is well known and advertised throughout the healthcare and academic community. CSO would be pleased to consider research proposals for innovative CFS/ME studies of a sufficiently high standard. These would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities are offered specifically to pupils diagnosed with attention deficit hyperkenetic disorder (ADHD) on leaving school.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is committed to improving opportunities for young people who may require additional support on leaving school, including those with ADHD. Careers Scotland makes an important contribution to effective transition arrangements from school to post-school and helping young people access and retain opportunities. Where appropriate, this might include input from a key worker where a young person's needs are such that they would benefit from more intensive, one to one support.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with its plans to increase the number of people donating bone marrow.

Malcolm Chisholm: The NHS bone marrow registry, The British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR), which is run by the National Blood Service in England, registers donors from Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

  The registry met its target of increasing new donors by 40,000 in 2002-03 and has a target of recruiting a further 40,000 donors during 2003-04.

  The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) provides tissue typing in support of the BBMR and currently has over 11,000 active donors on the register and around 1,000 donors are added annually.

Higher Education

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is factoring into its lifelong learning budget the funds necessary to make a pay award to higher education staff.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive plays no part in setting the levels of pay or conditions of service in higher education institutions. We are however aware through the Higher Education Phase 3 Report on "The Competitiveness of Higher Education in Scotland" that there is evidence that academic salaries have not kept pace with comparable professions. We will use the results of the review to inform our decision making process about funding levels for the higher education sector in the forthcoming spending review. In recognition of the pressures facing the sector, the First Minister and I have already given an assurance to make additional funding available as part of that process.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the participation rates for higher education would be if they were calculated under the initial entry rate system used in England.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not publish an estimate of the initial entry rate for Scotland and currently has no plans to do so.

Hospitals

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of capital investment has been in each Highland and Island hospital in the last (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15 and (d) 20 years.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards were informed of their 2004-05 capital allocations on 11 March with Highland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles NHS boards receiving increases of 11.4%, 6.1%, 4.4% and 4.5% over their 2003-04 allocations respectively. Capital funds are now allocated to NHS boards using the Arbuthnott formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. This means that NHS boards can determine, based on their knowledge of the needs of the local area how this money should be spent.

Hospitals

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is, excluding land acquisition, of a new rural general hospital with a capacity of 80 beds, two operating theatres and one endoscopy theatre and appropriate out-patient and accident and emergency facilities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The calculation of the cost of a modern hospital whether a teaching hospital, a general hospital or a community hospital is a complex matter critically dependent upon the range and configuration of services to be offered, and hence the area to be occupied. It is not possible therefore to give even an estimated cost on the basis of the information provided in the question that could be applied or relied upon for comparative or planning purposes.

Housing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of current provision for housing-related support services funded by the Supporting People initiative and the rules governing future grants.

Ms Margaret Curran: Supporting People grants of £421 million for 2003-04 have been allocated to local authorities. A further £408 million has been announced for 2004-05. This includes part year allocations to West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute councils. The allocation is also subject to adjustment to provide full year funding to projects which came into operation between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004 and were only funded for part of the year. Further decisions on 2004-05 funding will be subject to review. The purpose of this review is to ensure that the services being funded properly meet the objectives of Supporting People and are being delivered in an effective and value for money way and that Supporting People is placed on a secure footing going forward with a clear purpose and remit and the funds to deliver.

  Supporting People Grant Allocations to Scottish Councils 2003-04

  


Local Authority

Grant Allocations



Aberdeen City

£12,306,385



Aberdeenshire

£9,374,919



Angus

£6,292,340



Argyll and Bute

£16,598,238



Clackmannanshire

£3,093,495



Dumfries and Galloway

£15,078,644



Dundee

£11,672,480



East Ayrshire

£6,184,168



East Dunbartonshire

£5,527,821



East Lothian

£9,365,816



East Renfrewshire

£6,254,645



City of Edinburgh

£44,694,924



Eilean Siar

£356,812



Falkirk

£8,275,041



Fife

£27,327,241



Glasgow City

£71,525,949



Highland

£13,892,813



Inverclyde

£8,122,574



Midlothian

£6,050,298



Moray

£6,920,485



North Ayrshire

£14,705,131



North Lanarkshire

£24,845,631



Orkney

£357,044



Perth and Kinross

£4,592,524



Renfrewshire

£18,346,930



Scottish Borders

£5,956,313



Shetland

£788,470



South Ayrshire

£6,231,371



South Lanarkshire

£23,420,550



Stirling

£3,799,843



West Dunbartonshire

£19,396,821



West Lothian

£9,719,099



  Supporting People Grant Allocation to Scottish Councils 2004–05

  


Local Authority

Grant Allocations



Aberdeen City

£12,306,385.31



Aberdeenshire

£9,374,918.64



Angus

£6,404,032.96



Argyll and Bute

£8,299,119.18



Clackmannanshire

£3,093,495.45



Dumfries and Galloway

£15,078,643.67



Dundee

£11,672,479,97



East Ayrshire

£6,184,168,29



East Dunbartonshire

£5,527,820.89



East Lothian

£9,365,815.80



East Renfrewshire

£6,258,178.60



City of Edinburgh

£44,694,923.95



Eilean Siar

£356,812.77



Falkirk

£8,275,040.93



Fife

£28,331,955.32



Glasgow City 

£71,765,591.36



Highland

£13,892,812.73



Inverclyde

£8,122,573.44



Midlothian

£6,071,374.91



Moray

£6,920,484.90



North Ayrshire

£14,705,130.89



North Lanarkshire

£24,845,631.31



Orkney

£357,044.49



Perth and Kinross

£6,225,993.89



Renfrewshire

£18,346,929.53



Scottish Borders

£5,956,312.66



Shetland

£788,469.79



South Ayrshire

£8,171,860.48



South Lanarkshire

£23,420,550.34



Stirling

£3,799,842.77



West Dunbartonshire

£9,698,410.53



West Lothian

£9,761,338.41



  Grants are made by Scottish Ministers under powers conferred by section 91 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002 which prescribe eligible housing support services.

Industry

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it intends to take to expand manufacturing industry and increase volume production, and therefore increase demand and lower unit costs of raw materials, in light of the increase in input inflation on raw materials, particularly steel and paper.

Mr Jim Wallace: Commodity prices are determined by supply and demand in global markets and, as such, affect all economies. As Royal Bank of Scotland's purchasing managers' indexes reveal, manufacturers throughout the UK have been affected by price inflation in raw materials, particularly metals. The Executive recognises the increasingly global and competitive nature of the markets that Scottish manufacturing companies compete in. The Executive pursues, through the Framework for Economic Development in Scotland, the provision of a supportive microeconomic environment to ensure that Scotland's manufacturers can capitalise on broader UK macroeconomic stability, grow and remain competitive.

Inter-Governmental Links

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of Scotland's current links with Nordic countries and what plans it has to build on them.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5525 on 3 February 2004 on contacts between the Scottish Executive and the Nordic Council of Ministers. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  In addition to contacts with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Scottish Executive enjoys bilateral links with Nordic countries in a number of fields, including health, fisheries and the environment. The Health agreement between Scotland and Finland for the exchange of information, visits and co-operation on common health issues reached its 25th anniversary in 2003. Scottish Executive environment officials meet regularly with counterparts from a Swedish region.

Justice

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to change the financial threshold for small claims and summary courts.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive supports an increase in the jurisdiction limits for small claims and summary cause actions. We note the cross party support for the motion tabled by John Home Robertson. We are considering how best to progress this matter.

Justice

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the up-to-date figures are on how many cases of alleged offences aggravated by religious hatred (a) have been reported by police to Procurators Fiscal, (b) brought to court and (c) resulted in a conviction.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: During the period 27 June 2003 (when Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force to permit an offence to be proved to have been aggravated by religious prejudice) until 29 February 2004, the police reported 262 cases including an allegation of religious aggravation. At this stage it is not possible to provide a definitive account of the number of prosecutions or their results and many remain active cases, but a report on the first six months of operation of this legislation will be available by the end of April 2004.

NHS Equipment

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to Audit Scotland's report Better equipped to care? - Follow up report on managing medical equipment  and what steps need to be taken as a result of the report.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive acknowledges the concerns identified in the Audit Scotland report and will respond once full consideration has been given to the recommendations made in the report.

  All NHS boards are being asked to respond to the recommendations made in the report and to detail what actions they propose to take to address these recommendations. The Health Department will monitor such action plans on a regular basis.

  In addition, a requirement for NHS boards to identify capital investment on medical equipment as part of the financial information to support local health plans is being introduced from 1 April 2004.

Non-Domestic Rates

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what types of business premise and installation are assessed for non-domestic rates on the same basis as England.

Mr Andy Kerr: The valuation of non domestic subjects in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish assessors. The Scottish Assessors liaise with their counterparts in England and Wales, the Valuation Office Agency, to ensure, where practical, harmonisation of valuation treatment north and south of the border.

People with Disabilities

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in implementing the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in the NHS, particularly in relation to deaf and hard of hearing people.

Malcolm Chisholm: Since the Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in 1996, NHS boards have been actively involved in ensuring that they develop and deliver services in ways which best meet the needs of all disabled people, including people who are deaf. As the final requirements of the act come in to force in October 2004, further development work is currently in progress. The current development work, which is being carried out in partnership with the Disability Rights Commission, will consider the needs of all disabled people and aims to ensure that it deals with these issues in an integrated way. We are committed to ensuring that responding to the needs of disabled people becomes part of mainstream activity within NHSScotland.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the planned national planning policy guideline for west Edinburgh will assist development.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Review of the West Edinburgh Planning Framework arises from the UK Government White Paper The Future of Air Transport , and is necessary to accommodate the land use and transport planning issues consequent on the policy for the growth of Edinburgh Airport. It will safeguard land for the development of the airport; help facilitate the relocation of the Royal Highland Centre; and incorporate new rail, tram and road links to improve access and thereby assist development. It will also identify the opportunities once the crosswind runway is no longer operational for development in that area and intensification of development in Edinburgh Park.

Police

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total number of police has had training in mental health conditions.

Cathy Jamieson: All operational police officers with Scottish forces are given training on mental health issues.

Police

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training was offered to probationary constables at the Scottish Police College before September 2003 in mental health conditions and, specifically, attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder.

Cathy Jamieson: As indicated in the answer given to question S2W-4523 on 9 December 2003, all new recruits to the Scottish Police Service (and British Transport Police based in Scotland) receive training on mental health issues including how to deal appropriately with sufferers of Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder. Prior to the introduction on 8 September 2003 of a new format for initial training for probationary constables, all new recruits received similar training during stage one of the previous probationers training course.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Social Work

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many family support workers are employed through Sure Start Scotland funding in each local authority area.

Euan Robson: This information is not held centrally.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the geographical boundaries will be of the two new area tourist boards (ATBs); how such boards will be constituted and to whom they will be accountable; what the procedure will be for the interaction between the two boards and 14 hubs; what will happen to any surplus funds held, or outstanding debts owed, by existing tourist boards; whether any (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary redundancies are anticipated and, if so, how many and who will fund such redundancies, and what level of natural wastage is anticipated.

Mr Frank McAveety: The geographical boundaries of the two new area tourist boards; how they will be constituted; their interaction with the 14 hubs; the handling of surplus funds held or debts owed by the existing area tourist boards; and the transfer of staff into the new boards will be addressed by a Statutory Instrument which we intend placing before Parliament this summer.

  We intend that the new boards will be accountable to VisitScotland. They will act as something of a stepping stone to enable the new Scotland-wide network to be established and, as far as users of the network are concerned, we do not envisage that two new ATBs will be prominent.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates that the private sector and local authorities will make financial contributions to the proposed tourist hubs; if so, how much it estimates will be contributed by the private sector and local authorities in the next three years and how these contributions will be made.

Mr Frank McAveety: The tourism industry and local authorities make a very significant contribution to the work and finance of the existing 14 area tourist boards. We anticipate that they will want to maintain that commitment to the new local tourism hubs. We intend that the contributions of local authorities will be governed by partnership agreements to be negotiated between the local authority and their local tourism hub. Tourism businesses will be invited to pay for the marketing and other services which their local tourism hub will offer. The extent of contributions will be a matter for the local tourism hubs, local authorities and tourism businesses to agree.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether VisitScotland will have the power to restructure the new integrated tourism network and reduce the number of tourist hubs and whether any guidance has been issued to VisitScotland on this matter.

Mr Frank McAveety: VisitScotland – officially the Scottish Tourist Board – has power to set up local offices under the general provisions of the Development of Tourism Act 1969. As I announced to Parliament on 11 March, the new Scotland wide network will be based on the 14 existing area tourist boards.

Wind Farms

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many wind farm applications have been rejected, broken down by region.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: On the basis of the information available, which is gathered by the Scottish Executive on an informal basis, the number of wind farm proposals that have been refused in each local authority area is:

  


Local Authority Area

Refused



Aberdeenshire

2



Argyll and Bute

3



Dumfries and Galloway

1



East Ayrshire/South Lanarkshire 

1



Highland

4



Moray

1



North Ayrshire

2



Perth and Kinross

1



Scottish Borders

1

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will now require the construction managers for the Holyrood project to provide a parent company guarantee.

Mr George Reid: I am informed by the convener of the Holyrood progress group that a letter has now been issued to Bovis Lend Lease requesting that they provide a parent company guarantee in accordance with Clause 20.1 of the construction management agreement.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what information the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has in respect of who took the original decision not to require a parent company guarantee from the construction managers for the Holyrood project; what information the SPCB has in respect of whether advice was given in relation to this and, if so, whether any such advice will be published; what information it has in respect of whether, and when, the Chief Architect offered any such advice; what information it has in respect of when the decision was taken and who was consulted about it; what information it has in respect of whether any Scottish Office minister was consulted on, or advised of, the decision and, if so when; whether all documentation relating to the decision will be published, and whether the decision not to seek the parent company guarantee was reported to the SPCB.

Mr George Reid: The SPCB has no information on any of these issues. The file record is unclear as to why the parent company guarantee was not taken up before now.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what information the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has in respect of whether the parent company guarantee from the construction managers for the Holyrood project was to be obtained without charge; whether it can now be obtained without charge, and whether the SPCB can require it to be provided without charge.

Mr George Reid: I am informed by the convener of the Holyrood progress group that a parent company guarantee is being provided without charge.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) can provide an unqualified assurance in writing to members of the Scottish Parliament that, if the SPCB does not take up the offer of the parent company guarantee, free of charge, from the construction managers of the Holyrood Project there will be no possibility of any risk to the taxpayer.

Mr George Reid: The convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that a parent company guarantee is being sought and will be provided by Bovis Lend Lease without charge.